It has no tabs, no menus and no pop-ups, but most crucially it contains, by default, the same ad and content blocking features as Mozilla's previous attempt to encourage privacy on iPhones, just called Focus. That app, rather perplexingly, ran only alongside Apple's Safari browser and not Firefox iOS due to the Cupertino company's restrictions on who could access the content blocking functionality on iOS.

Firefox Focus combines that app with Mozilla's browser. It incorporates a list of blocked content providers deemed to be harmful from privacy tech specialists Disconnect.me. Trackers thrust on users' iPhones from web analytics, social and advertising companies will be blocked too, and history can be erased with the tap of a single button. As with incognito modes in various browsers, cookies are blocked too. All of this should make the browsing experience faster too, Mozilla said.

"We felt it was important to have an alternative to these paid content blockers," said Nick Nguyen, VP of product at Firefox, who claimed the "segment stopped getting promoted by Apple," and needed reinvigorating.

Mozilla wants to end cloistered web

The release of today's browser is part of a wider effort at Mozilla to create a better web experience and, in light of the recent election coverage, a broader one. Even before Trump was elected and heavy blame was placed on Facebook for helping fake news proliferate, Mozilla was working on ways to encourage web users to look beyond the content they naturally turn to on a daily basis, said Nguyen.

"Browsers aren’t doing enough to give people the web they deserve and that involves a variety of technologies, not just blocking, but actually creating algorithms to expose people to more of the web, get the most of the web and a real understanding of the topic." Such plans had previously been outlined by Nguyen in a blog calling for more context on the web.

Expect more from Mozilla with Firefox updates in the future. In the meantime, you can download the app here.